So around 10:30 pm, I got responses from a server saying that \”document not found\” when searching something in the CMU website. I thought ok, the CMU google search must be down. Some idiot kid probably broke while trying to show off to his friends what he could do with the CMU server.

About 30 minutes later, I tried again to search using the form in Safari. Because I want to find a screen protector for my powershot s60. It doesn\’t work. I get the same message again about \”Document Not Found\”. Ok, something doesn\’t seem right. I go to the google home page and get the following.

I am shocked. I check images.google and news.google It seems as if everything is functionally normally. I im Polo and ask him what he sees. He sees the regular google page. Ok WHAT IS UP. I start thinking that someone messed with the router that I am currently leeching off of…and taht someone thought it would be funny to direct leechers to a non-google site. I spend a few minutes trying to get into the router\’s admin page to no avail. I don\’t know the default password to DLink\’s router page because…guess what, I can\’t access google (although a few minutes later, it did occur to me to use Yahoo). So I start spinning around in my chair in frustration, thinking maybe this is a sign. They want me to really study for my human factors mditerm.

I start feeling yet another pang of hunger, which comes too often these days. I start thinking about whether I should eat my fifth banana that night or whether I should bake my instant cookies. Or eat cornbread.

But I digress. I return to my computer and suddenly it works.

But sadly to my geekiness, Google was NOT hacked. It was just a DNS glitch as computers all over the world tried to find the site of Google. Strangely enough SoGoSearch is google.com.net? How is that possible? I don\’t get it. But ok. It happened earlier in May, but I wasn\’t around to witness it.

So it has been nearly one month since the new class of masters student have moved in. The new class is different. And like last year, I can sense their earnesty and their drive to discover hci.

Yet, I can\’t help sometimes looking in the class for the \”people\” that used to be here. There are times that I wonder where Joon, the one who took stealthy phone calls all the time. Where is the Joon? Or the Janette? The energetic Asian girl who has great music taste, outgoing and unassuming. Where is the Alex? The one who seemed so serious at the beginning, but turns out to be a kid who can\’t stop joking around. And the Lisa. The one who states her opinion loudly, then you realize you had the same thoughts all along but you were afraid to say it. There\’s so much more that I could describe, but it\’s me just missing what used to be.

Of course, the new always gets better. There are still interesting people here. The ones who love bowling. The ones who go swing dancing. The tennis players. The ones who talks about drinking all the time. But to me, it\’s still at that shallow level. I don\’t know them all that well yet, but hopefully soon I will.

Indulgence of the day: a comparision study of Hershey\’s Skor and Heath Bar at 8:51 pm

Total Cost: $1.50

Purchased at: Entropy, the great late night CMU store of things that ruin students\’ health

Winner: Heath Bar. Nothing beats a chocolate bar that works well on its own and hidden in pieces in sweet cream ice cream

Consumption time: 3 minutes, 10 seconds for both

Consequence: a fleeting moment of happiness, then a slight stomachache

Today, one of my groupmates suddenly interjected in our conversation, \”I read your blog! About how you went to brunch Sunday. And I saw your pictures!\”

I always find it amusing when people tell me that they read the latest entry on my blog. After repeated failures, I tend to assume that nobody reads what I wrote and that what I say won\’t be repeating what some people already know.

Despite often saying that breakfast is my least favorite meal of the day (lunch is fyi), lately I have been enamored by brunch. The fact that it only occurs on a weekend and is relatively cheap.

So today, I went to another brunch place (after a fantastic time at the Zenith Tea Room) at the Ugly Duckling Gourmet Edibles, located in the Northside of Pittsburgh. It was very quaint and that an old fashioned feel. We were sat in a small dining room with elegant decorations. I had heard about it from an online article. It was $14 for an entree, hot drink (tea, cider, or chocolate), cold drink (apple, orange, or tomato), a side, and a dessert. Everything was quite good. I had a stuffed french toast with berries and cream cheese oozing out between the slices. Other people had a crepe, a wrap and an egg cup. I thought the french toast was quite good, especially compared to the dryness of the french toast I had at the Zenith Tea Room. Then my side was a yogurt parfait which was a perfect blend of vanilla yogurt, fresh strawberry slices, and granola. The server had served it in a tall glass which added to the antiquity of the place. The orange juice was oddly very juicy…compared to other kinds that I had that were not fresh. And of course the rose tea. Twinnings always has that special flavor. And the dessert. Wendy had a pineapple ice cream, which seemed to better fit the category of pineapple sorbet and Carol had a decadent raspberry and chocolate sorbet. I, like every time, would die in happiness. I had a fabulous creme brulee accented with raspberries and Inma had a less than perfect cheesecake, which I thought could be slightly creamier.

But sadly, the business is going to close in less than 2 weeks. The day before, I had fretted about the fact that nobody picked up the phone and that the business was probably so popular that I couldn\’t get a table. It turned out that…there was nobody there when we arrived. The tables were empty until almost 15 minutes before we left, when a small group of older adults arrived.

Alas, the first, only, last time I shall experience thee perfect brunch!

Tonight, I suddenly wanted to eat Indian. So I dragged Polo along to India Garden, one of the best Indian restaurants in Pittsburgh, located in Oakland. By the time we got there, we were all sweaty from hiking in the humid weather. Fortunately, it was air-conditioned inside.

I ordered a rose lassi and strangely enough, it was so filling that after finishing one half, I felt so full. My main dish arrived and the server said, \”Chicken Tikka Masala.\” I was startled for a moment and asked another server to come back to tell me what the dish was. He simply looked at my bowl and said \”chicken tikka masala.\”

I nodded and said, \”Ok, that\’s not what I ordered. I ordered the chicken shanidfljfldjfldkaaaka.\”

Ok, so i didn\’t know how to prounouce the dish I ordered. Then the server seemed a little annoyed as he went over and bought over a menu. I had trouble looking at what the menu said…and had to lean way over to read. I finally said number 63. Then another server came along and said, \”that looks like chicken tikka masala.\” Yet another server came and watched, who later added (helpfully) \”Both 63 and 66 are the same.\”

I felt slightly embrassed now, but I wanted to know what my dish was before I dived into it. The server ordered me to see what was on the bottom of the bowl. \”Dig beneath and see if there are bell peppers.\”

So I reluctantly showed him that there were no bell peppers. He leaned back and said with satisfaction, \”That is what you ordered. He wouldn\’t have known the difference between the two dishes.\”

I mumbled my thanks.

When I got up today, I happened to look back on the bed and there was a dead spider under where I had been sleeping. Don\’t those insects know that I tend to steal blankets often and that only the courageous should share a bed with me?

I am a natural romantic.

Meaning, I like to do things because they seem symbolic. Because they seem so meaningful. And I have a tendency to rationalize a wrong decision as a…way to learn, an experience.

For the longest time at Berkeley, I had dreamed of seeing how far I could go on a bus. As in, I would take a random line, get off, get another bus, just keep traveling until I felt like turning around. The randomness appealed to me.

Because I had no class today, I was very bored. Knowing that nobody else was really around, I decided to check out Southside Works on my own. I took the 61 downtown, then figured out to take the 51c to Southside. Unfortunately, it started turning on 20th from Carson, so I immediately got off at the next stop. I walked several blocks down to the Southside Works. Unfortunately, it was very barren. I went into the Forever 21 and it was so empty compared to its California\’s counterparts. But on the way back..oh that was interesting. I decided that I would take any bus that seemed to go downtown.

The first bus that came was the 54c and it seemed familiar. I remember taking the 54c from the strip, so it must be right. So laying faith in that the bus would get me back to Oakland, I started reading the new cookbook I purchased. Then suddenly I looked up and realized I was…somewhere else. There were rundown houses around me and not to be \”racist\”, there seemed to be more people from the working class on the bus. I felt a slight increase of panic in myself, but I decided to lay faith in the bus line. The bus kept winding around these deteriotating neighborhoods. Suddenly, the bus driver called out, \”Last stop.\”

A young Asian girl with her forever 21 bag and ipod earphones wandering around Pittsburgh in the evening? Yeah. I asked the bus driver how I could get back to Squirrel Hill. He muttered something about how I was on the wrong bus and I reluctantly got off. I was at a T station called South Hills Junction. I nearly swore to myself, thinking how I ended up in the wrong side of Pittsburgh. But the romantic in myself thought great experience! see what\’s around here to explore!. Needless to say, there was nothing except barren hills.

In my beginning sulky mood, I went to the T stop and studied the map. I figured out which side of the platform I should wait on and plopped myself on the bench, continuing to listen to music on my ipod. Music made everything better. For the next 10 minutes, I paced around in anxiety, wondering if I will be stranded in the middle of Pittsburgh. And finally the T came and I got off at the Steel Center building, remembering that I took the T with Helen last year at that stop. I left the station and then started wandering the streets. Note, this is Pittsburgh so the downtown was nearly barren. I felt out of place, with my \”trendy\” necklace, black capris, Reef flip flops as I wandered up and down Grant Street. Eventually, I spotted the Kaufmann\’s. But the buses going to Squirrel Hill weren\’t on Forbes, because that\’s where I initially got off. I wandered around, feeling the masculine i know where i am, i don\’t want to ask for directions grow. And within minutes, I found the appropriate stop. I stumbled home at my stop, tripping over UPitt students who wore too much perfume and on a big pothole in the sidewalk outside my house.

Then I made fried rice as my stomach was grumbling in irritation.

Today I participated in a water fitness class named \”Aqua at both ends\” at the CMU swimming pool. Normally, I would be intimidated by such classes, especially since it wasn\’t the first one. But this morning, I headed down to the athletic desk, gave them a $30 check, received a group exercise card, and went to the pool area. No anxiety. Not like that time where I walked into a class, spent about a few minutes glancing around the room, then turned around and left.

The instructor singled me out once I was in the class because it was obvious that it was my first time and basically coached me individually throughout the class. The other students in the class were…shall I say…pleasantly plump ladies leaning toward middle age. I should have known.

I wasn\’t impressed though. We did marching, stepping and jogging in the water. The instructor yelled, \”Getting your heart rate up!\” I barely felt like I was being any active as I was just jumping up and down in the water. I felt somewhat short, because I could barely stand without floating away.

The only interesting part was when we used \”floating weights\”, which surprisingly was very difficult. We did bicep curls and lifts. Good thing too because my arms are probably the weakest muscles.

The likelihood of me returning is very slim. Where is my kickboxing class!

One of the things I have hated is dealing with financial issues. In particular, those with roommates/housemates. Statiscally, money is one the greatest causes of arguments and the ends of relationships.

Money is a sign of power in some way. I may see those trivial dollars as mine, but perhaps they really belong to you. And because of this very struggle of power, we can\’t ever see on the same plane.

So what I am dealing with now is how to manage the \”damage\” we are going to receive if everyone moves out of this house in May. I had one person from the management company come and take a look. They took a glance and said that we would definitely be charged for carpet cleaning. Around $150. She didn\’t do a good job of walking through the house, so screw that.

Let me explain my situation. This is the third year that this house would be rented out. There have been a number of changes in roommates. This house was one of those pass down from housemate to housemate. So the previous roommates (approximately 7 people not including their significant others) have pretty much received their full security deposit back except for two of them. Is it bad to go back and contact all 7 telling them they\’ll have to pay for damages that cannot be indicated? Of course, it was someone\’s fault for do a thorough walkthrough when everyone left. But hey, isn\’t it really unfair that no matter what will happen the carpet will be charged for cleaning?! Like seriously, how can anyone keep the carpet spotless? fdjlsdfjlsdf

The last place I lived in Berkeley, the management was anal and charged my roommate and myself a significant portion of our rent to cover carpet cleaning, blinds cleaning, dusting, oven cleaning, bathroom cleaning…despite the fact that we had cleaned…a lot. However, the first apartment I lived at, the landlord was a slacker and didn\’t do a walkthrough when we moved out. There were several points of damage there, yet he gave the three of us our full security deposit.

I am more apt to just sacrifice. To have less trouble. I do insist on things, but to deal with bad relationships is worse than losing money.

At the end of these things, is it better to stress over a missing (hypothetical) trivial $400 for months (perhaps in court) or just let it go? Better things in life than to whine about money, right? It seems to be the principle, but unlike most people, I always keep at least $1000 in my bank account for unexpected charges and hidden fees like these.